Memory of the Past
by The Hero of The Found
Summary: Can sins...be redeemed? If one only looks for forgiveness Jaune.


**A/N: Another small try and practice at getting some feels from my audience. Leave a review and I hope you like.**

Memory of the Past

The scene was slightly dark, even in the morning light. The sun stood above the field of green, white markings following rows up and down the field in a pattern, each in different shapes from crosses to swords. Each stood alone, but yet powerful, resisting the test of time and enduring with whatever spirit was lay before the object. Wind was light, having the small breeze allowed some life to flow between the crevices of woe and hope. In this abstract of color however stood one man, his own eyes gazing upon a single stone.

The man was taller and bigger than in his youth, a light stubble marking his face, along with that stood heavy white battle armor, covering almost every portion of his body. A yellow marking emblazed on the right top of the armor, a rainbow. A sword and shield hung sheathed on his right hip, then a red blade on his left. This was routine as of every other week. Just standing here, letting the sounds overcome him. It was intoxicating. The memories flowing through him, of better times. Before he actually became a true hunter. Sometimes he would be here for hours, until one of his friends decided to come and take him from the spot. Only for him to return here the next day. This relic was holy to the man, a symbol that no one else could understand. They tried, but no one really could. He never blamed them, not once. They cared, it was all that mattered, but caring can only go so far.

A time of peace came into his mind, the team he once led as well. Each person on it was family, still was even after all this time. Back then, they always knew him as the dork of Beacon and for the most part he was. Just another failure to be matched up against. But with the passage of time, came friends, and more. Team RWBY, still kicking today.

Ruby had always been nice, before and after graduation, even after the death of Yang. She never really got over her sister, Qrow helped but family couldn't be replaced. All the times spent together came to his mind, just hanging out, talking. The times they were almost mistaken for a couple and being driven to the brink from embarrassment. The times they would be alone, watching the night sky drift away. The time…Ruby confessed her love to him. Blame then should have been placed upon him. Never did he see this coming, never from her.

But it was wrong, she mistook friendship for infatuation and love. Heh, he didn't see that however until two months and a few incidents after they were dating. She wasn't used to having friends, guy friends so when she got one, it felt different he guessed. Not that he could relate in any way possible. Things…things went rough after that, the death threats from Yang, Ruby avoiding him constantly. It took a few months to sort everything back to normal, but now they were better than ever. Until Ruby's downfall however.

There was nothing she could have done, Cinder was too powerful at that point in time. And along with her goons, three against one wasn't good odds. She wanted to be alone, to distance herself and become stronger, to never let anyone die again. How he tried to talk her out of it, talking then eventually went to battle, it was a wonder Beacon survived. After which Ruby didn't want to be useless anymore she claimed, to not let anyone take the fall for her. That was when he realized that she was falling down the same road he did. But with a few more fights, and a deep conversation, he saved her from the brink, and she was better for it.

Weiss, the snow angel herself. Well, could you count someone who slightly wanted you dead a friend? Of course in a friendly way, if you can put it like that. During Beacon, it was true that he did have a liking for the girl. No attempts however even came close to even obtaining anything past the friend level, now in which he is thankful for. After you got past the ice layered heart, there was something there, a deep devotion to her friends and a kind soul. However it was a miracle if you could even see this for more than a second consecutively. But as of now it is shown perhaps a bit more than ever.

Almost like the Schnee Quarry mission and her battle with Adam. What he would give to relive that again, it was one of his most favorite battles. Just the shear ferocity in which Weiss protected her team and the workers stationed there. The man for all of his strength could hardly keep up, even with him already defeating Blake. For now however she runs the company she was destined to, seeing her occasionally was a gift. But in some strange way, she was the one that would usually come obtain him from this site. It was strange at first, actually witnessing Weiss being nice and giving her care towards the man. But this was a gift that needed to be cherished, along with her friendship.

Blake…poor Blake. The death of Yang may have been as hard on her as well. Especially knowing that the White Fang was involved. The Faunus never really got over her as well, if he knew any better he would have said that the woman had a 'thing' for the blonde bombshell. But in any case, he didn't really interact much with her. Having a few moments to discuss team matters, his own mostly. But there was incident that drew them both closer, the time they had actually found her parents.

Now he knew he was the last possible choice that Blake wanted or needed, hell Nora would have been a pick before. But with the only one there at the time, it was difficult to not pick him. Well she could have picked Winchester but that most likely wouldn't have worked out. And when they got there, they were nothing she expected them to be. It took him a while to figure out where the White Fang had taken her, being sold out by your own parents…how vile. Then again, it wasn't like he couldn't relate, there was some lost love between his own relationship to his parents. After a slightly successful rescue with Sun, which he still takes credit for; Blake never again went to see her parents. Not even after they were used as hostages against her by the Fang. Now she resides in the heart of Vale, still hoping to establish a relationship between the two races.

Yang, he probably didn't want to go down that road. The screams, he could still hear them in his nightmares. He was there, his body still held some of the burns that Cinder inflicted upon him. But both him and the rest of the teams could do nothing as Yang burned to death. The blonde that was once full of life, withered away to nothing. The thoughts came back; he was done with that road, the hauntings would never cease. He could only imagine what Ruby still feels.

His own team, Nora and Ren. Still somewhere in the eastern continents he supposed, destroying what Grim is still left. Half the Grim population is gone thanks to the two of them. He couldn't forget every single part about their time together. Missions, team exercises, just hanging out as a group, even if it took Ren a while to get used to the idea of interacting with others. The endless ball of energy was always the light of the group, never going out even in the darkest of times. When Yang died she was the one trying to keep everyone's spirits high, or at a mentally stable level. It was hard on her to, but never letting it show the woman held her head high. She was the one to cheer first after he defeated Sun at the festival, despite everyone betting against him. In another note she got awfully rich after betting on him, maybe that was why she cheered. But in any case, he was glad for her.

In all honesty the team may have been a bore without her. But with all of her energy, some of it found its way to Ren. He wasn't blind, she held affections towards the man. What was strange however was when Ren approached him and asked for his opinion on the matter. After a heated debate and much arguing, he liked Nora, the laid-back lazy martial artist, loved the redhead who couldn't be contained. It was a good thing he didn't go to Yang for advice, it would have been the death of him, he should know. So after a few words of encouragement, the two actually began dating.

He would admit, it was awkward at first, sharing a room with two other individuals did that. But eventually they got comfortable with the idea, maybe too comfortable as they caught them having some, for the lack of the better term 'intense sessions' with one another. Then the time they were caught 'doing-the-do'. He still cannot get the image out of his mind, they really needed to learn how to lock a door or put a sock on it. And the worse part, it was on his bed. He couldn't trade with either of them, he didn't know what they already did to those. And he certainly didn't want his partner to have it, so for a semester he was stuck without a mattress, it was a hell of a lot better than the alternative. Ren claimed that Nora couldn't keep it in her pants. It was probably true, they have a few kids now, and Nora was apparently looking for more.

That, that brought him to the final person of the group. Pyrrha, the person who probably single-handedly saved his ass more than once and in different ways. First was training him, he couldn't begin to describe what he felt when she accepted, even after what a jerk he had been. The woman was a godsend to him, a trainer, awesome partner, what more could someone want? Then something happened, over time he saw something different in Pyrrha. Just unnoticeable things until he looked closer, small touches, the way she would go out of her way for him, the things she said, they were different then for anyone else. Of course he didn't know this at the time, he was so blind to others feelings.

He should have probably caught it when Ruby and him started dating, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and boy was she. She didn't stop training but increased it to almost breaking levels, her tone changed towards him, and the small touches became…rough. But of course, as the dumb idiot he was, it went unnoticed. Until she changed tactics. It wasn't that she became worse, it was the exact opposite, just…ignoring him. No more training, barely any contact, it hurt. Eventually it became to where she would barely come back to the dorm. That was when he confronted her, and the anger that seeped through her. The Ruby fight had nothing on this. The scars still held on his body. But through it he learned Pyrrha was in love with him. The idiot of Beacon and the Spartan was in love with him.

Now of course he couldn't just drop everything to be with her, it wouldn't be right, nor would it be morally correct. So slowly, through time they both reconnected. Understanding, that was brought them back together. By this time the relationship with Ruby had ended, now seeing his mistake within the girl. It still wasn't right to go head-over-heels for her, it wouldn't be right to her or Ruby. So they continued, with him knowing that the girl loved him, but never giving a definite answer to her confession, until the festival. If you could believe it, Pyrrha and himself made it to the finals, but on opposite brackets. By the stance she took, nothing was going to be held back.

No words were spoken, blades and hits did the speaking for them. Pain, regret, emptiness, love, that was spoken during this. It ended as expected, with Pyrrha's sword at Jaune's neck, but something was different, she held tears in her eyes. After which he confronted her once again on top the roof they both knew so well. That is where they had their first kiss. Things progressed well from there, eventually getting to the point of a full-on relationship.

Everything couldn't be more perfect. But there is a point, where god decides in his infinite wisdom that you haven't felt pain yet, and smites you with the greatest hammerblow that he could think of. All it took was one bad call, one missed step, one failed act. Now he stood here, reliving his memories as if he could revive them somehow. It hurt, it always hurt, but he was addicted to the pain, the stress. Nothing could be compared to what he felt. He took another look around the area, it had grown dark. The moon shining and shattered above him. The white of the markings glowing from the moonlight hitting them. It looked serine, convenient for a graveyard. A sound echoed through the area and a few rose petals landed by him, already knowing who it was his face never turned. All he saw from the corner of his vision was a red hood. A small pressure was put on the shoulder, a hand "Jaune, time to go."

Jaune nodded, his mind still in another place, tears forming in his eyes. Slowly, he bent towards the grave, placing a hand upon the etching within the stone and whispering a quiet prayer. "Goodbye Pyrrha, I will see you next week, alright?"


End file.
